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Flashbacks
Flashbacks (also called analepsis) are a common literary technique in which the current events are interrupted to recreate an incident of an event of earlier occurrence. This device is often used to provide additional information about characters and story as well as an insight into a character’s motivation and background relevant to the events that are currently being unfolded in the story. Flashback devices are commonly used to depict events that have happened before the primary sequence of events in the overall story arc. In Person of Interest, flashbacks are used for different purposes. They can either depict a specific character’s memory or a series of events which happened in the past and are now crucial to current events. So far, each main character, except Fusco, has had a flashback whereas Elias and Root are the only minor characters with a flashback. Presentation Usually a flashback is introduced by a timeline that takes the audience back to a specific point in the past. Most episodes with flashbacks have two to three flashback sequences where at least one flashback is accompanied by a timeline. Some of the flashbacks that present relevant background information are presented from the Machine's point of view. In these flashbacks, coloured squares are applied to the characters. Examples: * The Machine recorded the phone call Jessica made to her mother. * The Machine accesses NCS Archival Database and retrieves footage of Reese and Stanton on several missions (Hungary , New York , Morocco , Ordos ) *The Machine reads feeds from Iraq and finds Carter in a military camp. If the flashback is a character’s memory, it usually revolves around that character only and is mainly told from that character's point of view. If the flashback features background information that is relevant to current events, characters other than the main character can appear and the flashback is told from a neutral point of view. Examples: *Nathan and Alicia meeting in the bar and discuss shipping the Machine. *Nathan creating the Contingency. Reese's flashbacks Reese's flashbacks are mostly personal memories in combination with scenes that occurred earlier in time but relate to a current event. Reese's flashbacks are presented in many ways and supported by a different colour scheme. Flashbacks involving Jessica are mostly in warmer tones whereas flashbacks revolving around his work with the CIA are usually presented in cold, blue tones. Finch's flashbacks Finch's flashbacks are mainly providing additional information about the creation of the Machine. In the first season, no personal memories were depicted. The flashbacks are exclusively in cooler blue tones and always introduced by a timeline. Finch's flashbacks in the second season revolve more around personal memories back to when he started to work on the Machine and when he first met Grace. The colour scheme also changes from slate blue in scenes where he works with the Machine to warmer tones in those scenes where he spends personal time with Grace. Exceptions Most of the flashbacks take place several years before the current timeline. In No Good Deed and Firewall a new type of flashback was introduced. In these episodes the flashback reverted to an event at an earlier point of time in the same episode. For example, in Firewall, there is a flashback to May 15, 2012. The main events in the episode begin on May 17th. Trivia *In Season 1, Reese has had 6 flashbacks, Finch had 3, Carter and Elias each had one. *Many happy returns is the episode with the most flashback sequences: 9, and also the only episode that has a flashback inside a flashback (Flashback about Jessica calling Reese in 2010 while Reese is in a flashback in Peter's house in 2011) *The use of flashbacks as a literary device was utilized in The Passion of The Christ which starred Jim Caviezel as Jesus. List of Flashbacks Season 1 Season 2 {| class="wikitable" !! style="background:#698e71;"|Image !! style="background:#698e71;" width="150"|Episode !! style="background:#698e71;" width="95"|Character(s)!! style="background:#698e71;" width="375"|Year/Date |- |rowspan="2"| || || Finch||align="center"| January 1, 2002 |- |colspan="6"|On the first day of the Machine, Finch begins work with it, starting by asking it if it can see and identify him. The Machine recognises him as Admin. |- |colspan="6" bgcolor="#698e71"| |- |rowspan="2"| || || Finch||align="center"| February 16, 2002 |- |colspan="6"|On the 47th day of the Machine, Finch is testing its capability to track people by playing hide and seek. He asks the Machine to respond to his questions by sending a message to his phone. |- |colspan="6" bgcolor="#698e71"| |- |rowspan="2"| || || Finch||align="center"| September 6, 2003 |- |colspan="6"|Finch also tests the Machine's ability to evaluate and assess risks by playing cards in a casino. Again, the Machine communicates with him by buzzing his phone. |- |colspan="6" bgcolor="#698e71"| |- |rowspan="2"| || || Finch||align="center"| September 7, 2003 |- |colspan="6"|When Finch leaves the casino, the Machine protects him from being run over by a car. He tells it not to watch out for him alone but rather protect everybody. |- |colspan="6" bgcolor="#698e71"| |- |rowspan="2"| || || Root||align="center"| April 15, 1991 |- |colspan="6"|Sam and her friend Hanna are playing computer games in the library in their hometown Bishop, TX but Hanna always loses. When the library closes, Sam sees her friend getting into a car and hence witnesses her disappearance. Unbeknownst to Hanna, Sam successfully finishes the game just after she left and enters Root as her username. |- |colspan="6" bgcolor="#698e71"| |- |rowspan="2"| || || Finch||align="center"| May 8, 2004 |- |colspan="6"|Finch and Nathan are walking in the park. Nathan is unhappy about his relationship and asks about their little project. Finch explains that he had taught the Machine to understand people and find connections between them when it detects an anomaly and points Finch to a woman named Grace, who is painting at the railing. Finch assumes that it's a bug because there seems to be no reason for the Machine to select her. |- |colspan="6" bgcolor="#698e71"| |- |rowspan="2"| || || Finch||align="center"| 2005 |- |colspan="6"|Finch tests the Machine's ability to find connections between random people when it shows him information about Grace, the painter. Finch suspects that the bug still exists when learns that not only she likes Charles Dickens but there is also not a single anomaly in her life, which makes her different from other people. |- |colspan="6" bgcolor="#698e71"| |- |colspan="6" bgcolor="#698e71"| |- |rowspan="2"| || || Finch||align="center"| January, 2006 |- |colspan="6"|Finch is buying an ice cream cone when the Machine tells him that Grace is painting in the park again. |- |colspan="6" bgcolor="#698e71"| |-} Category:Storyline Category:Literary Techniques Category:Lists